Hub bar and restaurant owners are burning up over the citys sudden crackdown on puffing patrons on rooftop decks or in sidewalk cafes as part of the citys tough new workplace smoking rules.

We used to have a patio full of people, smokers and others who dont smoke but are socializing with them, said George Lewis, owner of The Foundation Lounge at the Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square. Now its empty.

Lewis is among a group of tavern owners considering challenging the new smoking restriction in court. They fear the ban, coupled with an increased meals tax, will scare away customers at a time when profits are already suffering due to the economy.

Im afraid were going to lose business, said Tony Castagnozzi of the Rattlesnake Bar and Grill on Bolyston Street. People will say, Screw it. Well go out of town to a place where we can have dinner and a cigar outside. It just makes it tougher and tougher to do business in the city.

Last month, city inspectors began visiting the 250 or so bars and cafes with decks and patios, handing out warning letters and putting proprietors on notice that they face costly fines - $200 for a first offense, $700 for a second and $1,000 for a third - if customers are caught smoking in any adjacent outdoor area served by staff.

Boston Public Health Commission spokeswoman Ann Scales said after the educational outreach ends in the coming weeks, the city will begin enforcing the smoking ban in earnest by handing out violations. We dont pass regulations that we dont enforce, she said, adding that chronic violations could affect a bars liquor license.

Angry publicans say they were caught off guard by the measure, which got little attention in December when the city, which banned smoking inside restaurants and bars in 2003, enacted some of the toughest smoking restrictions in the country.

The outdoor-workplace smoking ban was tucked into the new regulations, which included a proposal to extinguish cigar bars that made national headlines. The issue sparked a fight from smoking bars that led to a 10-year reprieve.

But bar owners did little to protest the outdoor ban and are now scrambling to deal with what Castagnozzi calls a manager and doormans nightmare. On some nights, as many as 50 people stand in line waiting to get upstairs to the Rattlesnakes popular roof deck. Now anyone wanting to smoke will have to go back down the line and outside to smoke. When they come back, people will be like, Who are you?  he said.

Boston Public Health Commission spokeswoman Ann Scales said after the educational outreach ends in the coming weeks, the city will begin enforcing the smoking ban in earnest by handing out violations. We dont pass regulations that we dont enforce, she said, adding that chronic violations could affect a bars liquor license.

And the City of Boston does not collect tax revenue from business that dried up due to NO CUSTOMERS.

Hahahah.. well while I’m no smoker and have no issues honestly with indoor smoking bans in public places, outdoor ones are comical, especially places where one can choose to be. But its Boston, it became a parody of itself decades ago.

"I simply turn on the Golden EIB Microphone and share my honest passions and beliefs with people.And they're free to go elsewhere.They're free to ignore; they're free to believe; they're free to be entertained, I don't care.They're free to do whatever they want.But a lot of people aren't free to smoke cigarettes where they want;they're not free to drink where they want;they're not free to eat the kind of food they want to eat;they're not free to eat trans fats;they're not free to drive certain places.Pretty soon we're going to be told what kind of cars we have to drive.I can't cause that.I can't restrict anybody's freedom.We've elected a guy who can, does, and wants to, all under the guise of saving us.So I appreciate the effort, and I appreciate somewhat losing my temper here.But don't compare me ever to an authoritarian who thinks so little of people that without him they can barely breathe on their own.Don't ever do that."

LEARN IT, LOVE IT, LIVE IT!

If one cannot understand Rush's words above, then one does not truly understand FREEDOM!

Recently in my state I saw a happy little smoker puffing away at a Starbucks outside on a sunny, breezy day.

He was the only one there. He was bothering no one and no one bothered him...that is, until the Starbucks girl came outside to bark that State law mandated that he couldn't smoke outside even though he was bothering exactly no one.

But the mayor said he could not take a chance on the money coming in, as he did years ago. After the Tall Ships event in 2000, the state failed to reimburse the city for the public expenses of putting on the spectacle, which typically boosts state tax revenue through meals and sales taxes but does little for the city coffers. This time, Menino has asked the Sail Boston to provide the money for public safety up front.

The Mayor is right on this. Cadillac Deval needs to put up the cash...

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